From Cobwebs to Cables
by Predtards
Summary: Companion story to Struggle in the Snare. This is a tale of twists and turns in time and space. And tacos. And a very thoroughly disgruntled and angry Hufflepuff.


Author's Note: So, it's Annie here! Yup, writing solo. Don't worry, Ally is still about. She beta'ed this, anyway. So, this story is going to tie together with Ally's story, "Struggle in the Snare". To be able to understand this story fully, you'll need to read them both. Yes, it's confusing, but it's better than having it all together in one story, I assure you.

So, without further ado, I present "From Cobwebs to Cables".

Disclaimer: We didn't own the Predators, there's no way I own Harry Potter. He's too angsty to be one of my creations, anyway.

!)#%*!(#$%&#(*)!(%&)(#%*!#$%(#$)!#%*&)(!#%*$)!#*%&)(!#&%*$)!(#%*&!#(%&#)!$*#)&%!)#%*

Chapter 1: The Greatest Difficulties

"The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them." –Goethe

Aminah groaned and stretched, feeling a small headache in the back of her head. It didn't feel too bad, so she stood, ignoring it stoically. She looked over at the man in her bed and sighed, knowing that Moira would be cross with her when they met up that night for dinner.

Leaning over, she poked the pale blond in his side until he groaned and sat up. He blinked bleary eyes at her, confused. "Whassit?"

"You need to get cleaned up and go. I have to be at work in about an hour and a half and I can't leave you here. My roommate is already going to be miffed with me. I don't usually bring guys back, but you didn't want to go to your place. So, get your sexy ass up and get going."

The man frowned, pushing his hair out of his face. "You can't just kick me out! I thought we had a good time last night. Don't you want to spend some more time with me?"

Aminah strolled towards her closet, picking out clothes for the day. "Not particularly. Look, you're nice, but I'm simply not interested in getting to know you. I'm sure you have wonderful qualities and all the bull shit, but I just don't care. You're a great booty call and that is what I need. So, I expect you gone when I get out of the shower. Help yourself to a bagel if you like. Ta."

With that, Aminah went out of her bedroom and into the bathroom that she and Moira shared. Half an hour later, she felt much more human when she returned to her bedroom. She found a rude note on her night stand and snorted, tossing it in the garbage. "Who knew men were so sensitive? Honestly. Most guys love getting one night stands from me."

Shrugging, she dressed quickly and tugged a brush through her stubbornly wavy and knotted hair. Applying her make up, she made her way to the sunny kitchen on the other side of the apartment and enjoyed an English muffin and some eggs, slamming down some orange juice while walking out the door.

Moving quickly, Aminah caught her bus just in the nick of time. The bus driver gave her a nasty look, apparently offended that Aminah was almost late. Aminah just glared back and sat in her usual seat, going over the notes for her presentation.

Reaching her office building, the bus slowed and stopped and Aminah slipped out quickly, joining the morning rush of people. Her headache was all but nonexistent now and she almost smiled. It had been a good night last night. And, hopefully, tonight would be even better.

She got into an elevator and made it to her assigned floor, on eight. She made her way to her office and sat down in her comfy chair with a sigh, steepling her fingers and carefully organizing the things she needed to take care of that day.

Quickly making a list of her responsibilities, she began pulling out charts and files, pulling up her presentation on her laptop. An intern, she couldn't remember his name, poked his head into her office, smiling at her nervously. "Good morning, Miss Kalyani. I have your tea for you! Is now a good time?"

Aminah didn't look up from her powerpoint. She nodded and waved a hand to the side of her desk. The intern left the steaming cup there and practically ran from the room. A chuckle interrupted Aminah's thoughts and made her look up, disgruntled.

"Always such a foul look on your face, Minah. You should smile more. Don't want premature wrinkle lines, do you?"

Aminah glared viciously at the man in her doorway. "Jacobson, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times. You do NOT get to call me Minah. I WILL hurt you if you say it one more time. YOU may call me Mahaut, and nothing else unless I tell you."

He smiled mockingly at her, then turned on his heel. "The old men are waiting to hear another one of your THRILLING reports, Mahaaauuut."

Gritting her teeth and smooshing her inner desire to punch the man's teeth in, Aminah gathered her supplies, heading towards the conference room. "He's just jealous that I got the better office."

!)#%$!*#%&!#)%!#$^&#)%!#^%)(!*#%)_)!*^%$#_#_%^(#)*^#${%^_#$(^)#$^#$)%_#$%*!#)$%(#_!$*$^)%

Sighing, Aminah gazed at her watch, impatient for her bus to arrive. Tapping her high heel, she maintained her usual façade of mild irritation. All she wanted was to get home and see Moira. Aaaand apologize about the man this morning.

"I'll take her out to her favorite place. My treat. What's that place called? House of Nanking? Yeah, that's the place. She loves that Asian stuff. Get a few drinks, have some good food, go see a movie. Nah, maybe rent a movie. Moira and crowds, not the best."

The bus came soon and Aminah got in, relieved to be heading home and to be able to change out of her work outfit. Slouching with a sigh, she gazed out at the scenery afforded her from the bus route. There were only a few gaps in the buildings where she could see the Pacific Ocean, but the glimpses were worth it.

The Golden Gate Bridge arced over the bay gracefully and Aminah watched the waves rolling and crashing by. Smiling serenely, she shut her eyes, imagining being on the beaches. Her stop came and she walked to her apartment building, wrinkling her nose at the fresh graffiti on the walls.

Shrugging, she went up the stairs and unlocked the door. Moira always locked the door, even if she was in the apartment. Moira didn't want anyone sneaking in, which Aminah supposed made sense.

Stepping into the living room, Aminah shut the door behind her. Moira's shoes were in the closet and Aminah relaxed for the first time that day. Seeing Moira always made Aminah feel better and it had been a rough day at work.

"At least my presentation went well…" Aminah mumbled as she went into her room. The sun was getting low in the sky as Aminah changed into her favorite pair of dark blue dress jeans. She left her work top on and slipped into a lower pair of heels, pinning half of her hair up and rechecking her make up.

Grabbing her purse, she went out to the couch and flipped on the TV. Moira would come out of her room when she felt like it and all Aminah could do was wait. Moira could be finicky like that.

Time passed and slowly Aminah got more and more worried. She glanced over at Moira's shut door constantly and checked her watch. As it hit eight o'clock, Aminah stood, walking to the door. Gently, she knocked on it. "Moira? Hey, you in there? We gotta get going if I'm going to be able to take us out."

Silence was the only response. Aminah knocked harder. "HEY! I'm talking to you, twiggy! Get out here! I was gonna take you to that restaurant you like. House of Nanking. But we gotta hurry if we want to get there before it closes!"

Still no answer. Aminah's patience was worn thin and she was hungry, so she turned the knob and strode into her friend's room.

Only, there was no one there. Looking around, Aminah saw Moira's purse on her desk, her jacket on her chair, and everything was in order. Only, there was no Moira.

Aminah checked Moira's closet, under the bed, every inch of the apartment. She called Moira's cell phone and pager several times, but with no success.

Aminah began to pace frantically. She pulled out her cell phone and called everyone that might possible have seen Moira and knew where she was. Not at work, not working out, nowhere. No one had seen her since she had left work that afternoon, from the high school

Aminah felt sick. She sat on the couch, staring intently at the wooden floor between her hot pink heels. Taking a few deep breaths, Aminah calmed herself down, thinking. She stood again and began to pace slowly, steadily about the apartment.

"Well, let's see. She got up, went to work, left work at a bit past three thirty. That was… Five and a half hours ago. All right. So, I got off work at six, came here, the door was locked. The shoes were redone all fancy like, the apartment neatened, so Moira had to have been here for awhile. She's fussy. So, let's say she was busy here until, oh, five. I got here around six thirty, so it's narrowed down that she vanished somewhere between five and six thirty, so an hour and a half time span."

Aminah stopped, thought, then went back into Moira's room. She headed straight for her friend's closet and opened the door. There, in the dirty clothes hamper, were some of Moira's work clothes.

"Hmm…"

Aminah looked at where Moira kept her clothes neatly hung, in rainbow order, and spotted what was missing.

"That nightgown I made her get! Where is it?"

Aminah commenced searching the room once more. Finding nothing, she stood in the center of the once immaculate room and frowned.

"All right. She got home around three forty five or four. Cleaned up, was busy til five. What then? Well, I must have woken her up early this morning, her jogging outfit is in the hamper. So, she was tired. It was still an hour before I'd get back. She'd never nap in anything other than her pajamas, so she changed. And got into bed. Did someone come through the window? But, none of the windows were open. Besides that, the fire escape is a death trap of metal, rust, and tetanus."

Aminah went back to pacing through the apartment. It helped siphon off her nervous energy. "Okay, Moira is sleeping. How would someone get in? Pick the lock on the front door? Then leave with Moira and lock it with her key? But, that doesn't make sense either. No sign of a fight. And knowing Moira, there would be SOME sort of damage done. Crazy girl with jujitsu or whatever. Whoever tried to take her would have gotten at LEAST some sort of broken appendage."

Aminah clutched her head, a headache throbbing there. She'd been working on this for two hours now. And she was STARVING. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was close to ten forty five. She sighed, going for her cell phone. She hit speed dial one and waited as it rang.

A voice sang out over the phone. "Taco Ole, with the best Mex in town! May I take your order?"

Aminah smiled for the first time all day. Tacos. The ultimate comfort food. "Yes, hi, it's Mahaut."

She could hear the squeal of joy over the phone. "Hey there, girly girl! Oh, I've missed you! You haven't ordered from us in FOREVER."

"I ordered from you two days ago."

"Whatever! Your usual, I know. Be there in fifteen! Later, babe!"

Aminah hung up her cell and sighed, looking heaven ward. "Is it good, bad, or sad that the taco place knows me, my order, and my address perfectly?"

Aminah decided to go change. She wasn't going out tonight. She kicked off her shoes in the closet, and then halfheartedly tried to arrange them how Moira liked. She went to her room and pulled off her dress shirt, changing into a much more comfortable v neck sweater. Returning to the living room, she stared out the window at the myriad of lights flickering in the city.

Sighing, she went back to Moira's room. She stood there, staring at it all, in it's perfect neatness. It made Aminah smile, that her friend was so obsessive. She slowly strolled about the room. "I can't call the cops yet. She needs to be missing for 24 hours before they can do anything, the worthless bums. What kinda dumbass rule is that, anyway? The first 24 hours are the most important! I saw that on TV!"

There was a buzz and Aminah went to let the delivery guy in. Opening her door, she heard the distinct clacking of heels. Rico came into view, squealed in glee, then ran for her door. Aminah stood her ground as the cross dressing delivery boy, and part owner, of Taco Ole leapt into her arms.

He clutched her close. "Mahaut! Baby! Dearest! Ever have I missed the manly, dulcet tones of your voice! Why don't you call me anymore? Don't you love me?"

Aminah extricated herself from his grasp. "Rico. You know I only love you for your tacos, Spanish rice, and refried beans. Oh, and flan. That too. You make killer flan."

Rico sniffed at her, handing her the bag that contained her food. Aminah took it, desperately hungry. She pulled some cash out of her jeans and handed it to Rico.

Rico quirked a finely styled eyebrow at her. "All right, chica. Spill. What's wrong?"

Aminah hated that the cross dresser was so sharp. "It's nothing. I got it covered."

Ignoring her claims, Rico swished into her apartment and lounged on the couch. Crossing his legs, he smoothed his skirt and gazed at her expectantly. Aminah sighed, rubbing her forehead. Were the best tacos in all of San Fran worth this?

She gave up and went to her favorite comfy chair, curling up easily in the seat and pulling out her food, digging in with gusto.

As soon as she had finished packing all of her meal away, she looked over, to see Rico still watching her expectantly. Groaning, she went to the kitchen and tossed the wrappings of her dinner away and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Moira never touched the stuff, so she knew it was safe to leave it in the apartment.

She went back to her chair and tossed a beer to Rico, who opened it easily. They sat together, drinking, Rico waiting. Finally, Aminah spoke.

"Moira is gone."

Rico grinned. "A lovers spat?"

Aminah snorted, swigging more beer. "I've told you, we're not like that. Honestly, what is it with you and insisting we're together? No, not a spat."

"Then what?"

Aminah frowned, contemplating the brown bottle in her hand. "I… I don't know."

Rico frowned, setting his beer down. "Don't know?"

"I came home and the door was locked, like usual. I waited for Moira to come out of her bedroom. I kinda brought a man home last night and you know she hates that. So I was gonna take her out to that place she likes."

"House of Nanking?"

"Yeah, that. But, it hit eight and there was still nothing. So, I went into her room. She was GONE. No windows open, none of her stuff missing, everything in her obsessive order. It was like she'd just up and vanished from her bedroom."

Rico gaped at the obviously stressed woman before him. This just sounded like all kinds of crazy. He brought up suggestions, but Aminah shot them all down. She'd already considered them.

Rico sighed. "Well, not much you can do then. Just gotta wait, call the cops tomorrow. Look, you want me to stay here tonight? Keep you company?"

Aminah smiled. "Nah, you go on. What will all your adoring fans do without you to keep them company in the quiet hours of the morning?"

Rico smiled, then stood and went towards the door. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mahaut. You two, you were meant to be together. I know it. The stars say so. Just have faith, and you'll find your way to her again."

With that, he swept away in a flutter of burgundy skirt and cream top. Sighing, Aminah kept drinking, staring out the window. Snorting, she chugged the rest of her first beer. "Bah! Stars. Those things don't tell you a damn thing."

!)#%*&!#&!)#%()#%*&!#)%!#$(!#)%*&!#)(&%*!(%)&!#%*)(#)%&!#)%(!#%^)#$(!#%*^)!)#%*(!)#!&$)#%(#)*!%

A few hours later, and more than a few beers later, Aminah left her current bottle on the coffee table and made her way to Moira's room. She stood, wobbling only a little bit, and sighed. "Mooooiiiraaa…. Come baaaack! Dun leave me 'looone…. Who'll get the groceries? I always forget to."

Aminah sniffled. She hated being an emotional drunk. She stepped to the bed and saw Moira's favorite, and only, stuffed animal there. An angry looking baby seal, named Greargovich.

Aminah snuffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve, then flopped in the bed, pulling the angry seal close to her and shutting her eyes. She missed Moira and her incessant nagging and griping and fussing.

Suddenly, she heard noises in the room. Some sort of scratching. A cat? No, this was like something on paper.

She sat up, blinking, still clutching the seal. She swung her legs over the bed, and landed quietly, hearing voices talking softly. She stepped forward, Greargovich to her breast and blinked at the sight before her.

There, if she wasn't horribly mistaken in her drunken haze, was Dumbledore. He looked kinda like the guy in the movies. The first one, not the ones after. And, standing with his back to her, was a tall, lanky man in black, with black hair.

She rubbed her eyes, wondering if Moira's insane dreams were contagious. She took another cautious step forward and she decided that this scuffling about in the corner was not her style. She stepped forward once more and cleared her throat.

Both men turned to look at her and she knew at once who the black haired man was. It was hard to mistake that nose. Aminah quirked her head as the infamous Severus Snape's black eyes burned suddenly and he took a step towards her.

"YOU."

Aminah blinked. "Me. I'm sorry, have we met? I'm a bit confused right now."

He strode towards her, cloak billowing. "Do you have any idea how long it's been? I've been looking for you for YEARS."

Aminah took a step backwards, then another. "Look, uh, sir, I'm afraid you must have me confused for someone else. See, I don't think I'm supposed to be here. You're, well, kind of a book character and I'm not sure how I should feel about this whole mess."

Another step forward for Snape, another step back for Aminah. He was waaaay too far into her personal bubble. They were almost toe to toe and he towered over her short 4' 8" frame. But, she had him beat in muscle. Thinking, she decided that she could, if she got his wand away from him, take him down if necessary.

Then, she tripped and plopped into a small chair that she hadn't noticed before. She felt a tug and spiraling, and the last thing she saw clearly was Snape's face turning into a mask of horror and sorrow for reasons she didn't know.

Soon, the whirling was too much and she just buried her face into Greargovich, hoping it would stop soon and she would wake up from this insanity. She still had to call the cops and find Moira, after all.

!)#%&!)#%*!)#%$!)#%*#)!&%)#%*)#&%)#%(!)#$&#%*!)#%*)#)%#&%#%()!$*^#$)%^()$%*)#%*^#)($%*^%)^(#$%^)*

Author's End Note: Aaaand that's a wrap! For now. Don't worry, life will get plenty interesting for Aminah.

Hope you enjoyed and please review!

3 Annie of the Predtards


End file.
